City celebrates the ‘American character’ Sen. Collins, community honor veterans during annual Veterans Day ceremony

Thursday

Nov 14, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By Shawn P. SullivanSanford News Editor

SANFORD — There’s a difference between Veterans Day, which America observed on Monday, and Memorial Day, which Americans observe in May. Brigadier General James D. Campbell, of the National Guard, explained the distinction as guest speaker of Sanford’s annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Memorial Gym on Nov. 11.

Memorial Day is an occasion to remember the fallen, from the servicemen who lost their lives in battle to the veterans who served during peace time but have since passed away. The occasion calls for proud, but subdued, observation.

Veterans Day, however, honors all veterans, very much including those still with us, and is a cause for celebration.

“Veterans Day should not be confused with Memorial Day,” Campbell told the crowd that filled the bleachers on one side of the Memorial Gym on Monday morning. “It’s a day of celebration ... one of thanks, hope and gratitude.”

Campbell took the occasion to discuss the National Guard, namely its past, present and future, and thanked those in the audience for their support.

Shortly after he spoke, the ceremony’s keynote speaker, Sen. Susan Collins, delivered a heartfelt speech that honored all veterans. She assured them of her strong support and shared warm memories of her father.

“We honor those who paid the ultimate price, whether they lie at rest in foreign lands, in our nation’s capital, or in their hometowns,” Collins said. “We honor those who lived beyond their years of military service but who have since passed on. We honor those who remain missing and pledge that they will never be forgotten. And we honor those veterans who are here with us today. We owe them all a great debt.”

Local veterans and their families comprised much of the audience. When the Sanford High School Band performed a patriotic medley, each veteran rose when the students played the theme for the military branch under which they served. Collins serves on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. She spoke of her commitment to those who have served and are currently serving, and she mentioned their families too.

“We must support all veterans with the health care, rehabilitation services, housing assistance and the educational and employment opportunities that they have earned through their service and sacrifice,” she said. “For the young veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan to unemployment rates that are higher than the national average, education and employment assistance are especially important. In addition to our individual gratitude, we must always be a grateful society.”

Collins told stories about how her father, Donald Collins, a World War II veteran, used to prop her on his shoulders during the parades of her youth, so that she could see the American veterans and flags passing by. Her father enlisted in the Reserve Corps when he was a freshman at the University of Maine in 1943 — seventy years ago this month, in fact — and was called to duty by the end of the year. He served in the U.S. Army as an infantryman and saw action in the European Theater. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and got wounded, not once, but twice. He earned the Combat Infantry Badge, two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star. Sergeant Collins was discharged in January of 1946.

When he returned to Maine after his military service, he did what so many other veterans his age did upon returning from war — he continued his education, thanks to the G.I. Bill, worked hard, raised his family, ran the family business, and served as a Scout Leader, a Rotarian, the mayor of his hometown, and as a State Senator in Augusta.

“During my years in the Senate, I have seen time and again, a special quality in our veterans,” Collins said. “They continue to find a way to better their communities long after their service in uniform has ended.”

Collins had for the city an American flag that had flown atop the U.S. Capitol building at her request. She later presented that flag to Dan Drisko, who maintains the gym, and he ran it up the pole in front of the gym after the ceremony.

Sanford High School history teacher Paul Auger, who emceed Monday’s ceremony, also presented Drisko with a certificate of appreciation, courtesy of the local veterans’ committee, for all that he has done for the community over the years. For the occasion, Drisko had adorned the gym with decorations that children at the Margaret Chase Smith Elementary School had made for the veterans.

At the start of the ceremony, Auger also recognized the veterans in the audience, namely Raymond Fortier, often the chaplain at the city’s veterans-related events. Fortier rose as everyone in the audience honored him with a standing ovation.

The event had all the hallmarks of the city’s traditional and respectful annual observation of Veterans Day. In addition to Girard’s rendition of the national anthem, the local NJROTC Color Guard posted colors, performed a drill with precision and ceremoniously folded the flag as Cadet Maelin Nutting explained each step to the audience. Robert Seckar offered the opening and closing prayers.

Many dignitaries attended the event — in addition to Collins and Campbell, Interim Mayor Maura Herlihy, Deputy Mayor Joseph Hanslip, City Councilor Brad Littlefield, City Manager Steven Buck and State Representatives Andrea Boland, Anne Marie Mastraccio and William Noon all attended, as did representatives of several of the veterans’ organizations in the city.

At the end of her speech, Collins spoke of both veterans and those who honor them.

“It is the American character to answer the call of duty,” she began. “It is also the American character to honor those who answer that call. It is because of our veterans and those who serve today that our country still stands tall, that our founding principles remain strong, and that people around the world who once knew tyranny now know freedom. They have written the most glorious pages of our history. May God bless our veterans and those in uniform today, and may God bless America.”